NYC Marks Start Of Atlantic Hurricane Season With New Flood Safety Initiatives
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- June 1 marks the official start of Atlantic hurricane season -- and this year, the city is implementing new changes to the way it marks evacuation routes on Staten Island and across the city.
The new signs will mark the borders of designated hurricane or coastal flooding zones -- rather than marking an evacuation center, WCBS 880's Alex Silverman reported.
"Instead of telling you where to go, it's more or less giving the effect that you're in a zone," Office of Emergency Management Commissioner Joe Esposito said. "Keep going until you don't see the signs anymore."
Travelers will know they are out of a designated hurricane zone once they stop seeing the signs.
The Office of Emergency Management unveiled one of many high water warning signs at Midland Beach in Staten Island on Wednesday. A sign at Ocean Breeze has a big red line five feet off the ground -- designating Superstorm Sandy's high water mark.
The changes are a part of a FEMA program aimed to keep the risk of flooding apparent even on a brilliant sunny day and to hopefully prevent future flooding.